ESCAPE MAGAZINE ISSUE 27

This was so as this island was exporting
pineapples by the ship load for the NZ
market. As this was the last island on
this schedule MV Manuvai’s holds would
now be empty and ready to load up with
pineapples to trans ship to Rarotonga -
very enterprising!
Auntie Tu had arranged a truck for us to use
for the day to explore Mangaia, which is the
2nd largest island in the group. She also
has the distinction of being the oldest coral
island on the planet, having gone through
a number of periods where she was raised
from the ocean floor. Evidence of this are
her towering makatea cliffs which circle
the island like a castle keep protecting the
rolling landscape of her interior. She is also
riddled with a network of caves many of
which were used by our ancestors to bury
the dead.
We visited the hospital where I was born
and the house where I spent my first years
on the planet, memories of my childhood
came flooding back. Simon and the 2 girls
thought I was crying, but it was dust in my
eye!
We were just about to have lunch at
Auntie Tu’s when someone rolled up on
a very old Suzuki 90 2 stroke motorbike
and announced that we had to get on
board ship as soon as possible. The last
of the cargo was being loaded and more
importantly, the weather was deteriorating
and the Captain wanted to set sail as soon
as all passengers were aboard.
Auntie Tu said hurry up let’s go or you’ll be
stranded here for a month! She wrapped a
kikau basket of food for us and took us to
the landing. There were only 10 passengers
heading back to Rarotonga, which included
the 4 of us. The last barge was loaded
with pineapples in wooden containers and
we were instructed to climb on top of the
cargo. Nobody on or off the barge was
alarmed that the transom of the barge
The barge hit the side of the MV Manuvai quite hard
on account of a rogue wave. I don’t recall how we
did it, but all 10 of us, in unison, alighted effortlessly
while that rogue wave held the barge at the very
same level as the deck for no more than a split
second! Simon and the 2 girls were so impressed
they cried with joy!
was actually underwater! No worries said
someone, the hull of the barge is sealed
and cannot leak. And with that we set off to
MV Manuvai beyond the reef.
It happened so quickly. The barge tipped
suddenly just outside the reef entrance! As
a result, we and the pineapples slid off deck
into the Pacific!!! As we surfaced amongst
a sea of pineapples, we heard - ”swim to
the reef… swim to the reef”. As the barge
chugged away, the crew yelling ”swim to
the reef!”, I guessed Simon and the 2 girls
were not impressed at this time.
Apart from a few grazes and scratches
gleaned as we crossed the reef we, and the
other passengers were ok and as we made
our way across the shallow lagoon back
to the landing half of Mangaia was making
it’s way to the reef to rescue as many
pineapples as they could!
When the barge returned to the landing
a number of official type Officials began
very heated discussions with the crew.
Nothing came of it and in the end we wet
passengers again boarded the barge (this
time without any cargo) and made our way
back to the MV Manuvai. It was dead quiet
as we went through the passage entrance,
save for someone whistling an Elvis Presley
number. We noticed that the wind was now
stronger and the Pacific a tad nasty.
The barge hit the side of the MV Manuvai
quite hard on account of a rogue wave. I
don’t recall how we did it, but all 10 of us,
in unison, alighted effortlessly while that
rogue wave held the barge at the very
same level as the deck for no more than a
split second! Simon and the 2 girls were so
impressed they cried with joy!
ESCAPE • 77